Navy warned for refusal to free foreign sand dredger

Haidir Anwar Tanjung, The Jakarta Post, Pekanbaru, Riau

Lawyers representing the owners of seven foreign dredgers issued a warning to the Riau Islands Navy on Thursday for extending the detention of the vessels believed to be used in an illegal sand excavation operation in the province waters.

"A court verdict against the owners had been handed down and it orders the release of the dredgers as evidence in the case, however the Tanjungbalai Karimun Naval Base is still holding them," said lawyer Syamsul Rakan Chaniago.

In a media briefing, Syamsul, who was accompanied by colleague A. B. Purba underlined that the Tanjung Pinang District Court's verdict issued on Oct. 9 found the owners guilty of operating without licenses.

Syamsul claimed the order not to let the dredgers go came from Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Rokhmin Dahuri, who is also the head of the Sand Mining Supervision Team.

"If the warning still goes unheeded, we will bring the case to the International Court of Justice because it involves foreigners. We will also sue the minister because he has no right to violate the court order," he remarked.

Tanjungbalai Karimun Naval Base command chief Maj. Purwanto told The Jakarta Post on Thursday that the authority to release the dredgers was in the hands of top Navy officials.

"We have received the warning, but we still have to await for orders from the Navy chief to release the evidence," he added.

The case began when the Navy detained the seven dredgers: MV Samsung Apollo, TB Jasmine IV, MV Prof Gorjonov, TB Olivia, TB Vasco da Gama, TB Alexander van Humbold, and TB Lange Waver in Riau waters near Karimun island on July 24 and July 26. All were carrying sea sand and bound for Singapore.

During the investigation, Rokhmin asserted that the foreign dredgers were not only violating Law No. 21/1992 on sailing procedures, but had also committed other serious offenses such as damaging the environment, smuggling, customs and immigration violations, and dredging more than the allowed volume for sand excavation.

The government had also demanded bail be set at Rp 2 trillion (US$217 million) or 50 percent of each of the dredgers' value and its contents.

But the court ordered the owners to pay only Rp 30 million in fines for each of the dredgers.

Many environmentalists support the Navy's stance, arguing the court's verdict hurt the people's sense of justice.

"The verdict highlighted how little attention is given to the protection of the environment and consideration for the fishermen's hardships," NGO watchdog Kaliptra coordinator Jali told the Post.

Jakarta revoked the authority of the Riau administration to handle sand exports to neighboring Singapore in view of rampant smuggling which costs Indonesia up to Rp 2.3 trillion every year.